I love language and words. Since the infamous Tower of Babel, language has been complicated. Today you must know the language and the way that language is used depending on where you are and to whom you are speaking.

I was surprised on my first visit to Africa, to hear Kenyans speaking with British English accents. It took some time to understand their speech, and even then Kenyans use words differently than we do in American English.

For example, in America we wear pants; in Kenya they are trousers; in British English pants are what you wear under your clothing.

In America, the front end of a car is the hood and the back end is the trunk; in Kenya they are the bonnet and the boot.

In America, noodles are called pasta and spaghetti is a kind of noodle covered in tomato sauce; in Kenya all noodles are called spaghetti no matter how they are cooked.

In America we get water and move from place to place; Kenyans they fetch water and shift from place to place.

In America, we use a flashlight in the dark while we fill our truck with gas; in Kenya they light a torch while the lorry is filled with petrol.

As there are differences in the use, meaning, and pronunciation of words from country to country, the same is true in religious circles. The word grace has a different meaning from Protestants to Roman Catholics. To a Protestant, grace is the favor of God apart from any works or merit, given directly by God; to the Roman Church, grace is God’s favor received through the Church by means of particular deeds like water baptism and last rites.

Again, according to the Mormon Bible Dictionary, grace is an enabling power that allows men and women to lay hold on eternal life and exaltation after they have expended their own best efforts. When the Mormon missionaries come to your door and say that they are “saved by grace”, their meaning is very different from what Protestants and Roman Catholics understand.

We use the same words, but they have very different meanings.

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*** Watch the video made from our ministry trip to Kenya in June: Click HERE